Centre of Excellence on Advanced Technologies launched at IIT Kgp

Kolkata: The Department of Heavy Industries (DHI) under the union Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, launched the Centre of Excellence on Advanced Manufacturing Technologies at IIT Kharagpur.

DHI signed an MoU with IIT Kharagpur in presence of the Union Minister of State for Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Babul Supriyo on Wednesday.

"A state-of-the-art centre on advanced manufacturing technologies in Eastern India had been long overdue. I have intensely felt the need for the resurgence of small and medium scale enterprises in the region, which needs to get more competitive with the rest of the country. My vision is to achieve this through a common platform of academia, corporate houses and enterprises which must come together in a synergistic way. It is my firm belief that IIT Kharagpur, with its extensive experience in industrial research and incubation is the best choice to lead this initiative," Supriyo said adding that such centre of excellence is the first-of-its-kind in eastern India.

"It is unique for leading industrial houses in India to come together to form a consortium and jointly support an academic centre on Advanced Manufacturing Technologies. We chose the consortium model for industrial partnership because the need for infusion of next gen technology in the manufacturing sector transcends domestic competition and needs concerted cooperation of all industrial houses in this sector. The consortium will also enable self-sustainability of the centre beyond the period of DHI support," said Pallab Dasgupta, Dean Sponsored Research, IIT Kharagpur.

The consortium features stellar industrial houses, including Tata Sons, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, TCS, Ramkrishna Forgings, Heavy Engineering Corporation, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and Ampere Vehicles.

The total project cost for the centre is Rs 65.19 crore of which the centre's grant is Rs 47.62 crore.

"The Centre will aim to bridge the divide between the requirements of the leading manufacturing firms of India and the ability of SMEs to meet those requirements in globally competitive terms," P P Chakrabarti, Director, IIT Kharagpur said.